FIRE services in Merseyside and Cheshire reported a busy Bonfire Night but without any major incidents.

Thousands turned out to witness the displays which lit up Merseyside's night skies even as the rain poured down on spectators.

One of the aims of organised displays was to try and dissuade people from "home-made bonfire disasters" and reduce the risk of injuries.

Before November 5, teams had been out dismantling unofficial bonfires, and in Wirral they had removed more than 20 tonnes of materials from open spaces.

Stuart Crompton, of Wirral joint community safety team, said in previous years injuries had been caused by people using "inappropriate materials" to build bonfires.

He said: "We have averted possible injury to the public and reduced the demand on the fire service."

In Liverpool, more than 22 tonnes of fireworks were used in three separate displays at Sefton Park, Walton Hall Park and at the Pier Head, and in Wirral seven simultaneous displays were arranged across the borough.

Liverpool's executive member for leisure and culture, Warren Bradley, said the organised events had been a huge success and had gone without a hitch.

He said: "It was a win-win situation for everyone."

Cllr Bradley, who is also a fireman, said he had been off-duty for Bonfire Night, and added: "We look at it as a joint success for the emergency services and council, and the team has done a sterling job. Now we are starting work on next year's event."

Dr Eleanor Peters, a university lecturer from Wirral, who had taken her three-year-old daughter Caitlin to her first fireworks display, said she had been impressed by the event held at Central Park in Wallasey.

She said: "It was very wet and muddy, and I have to say there were a lot more people there than I expected given the weather. But it was a good display and people seemed to enjoy it."

Makeshift bonfires were started in some areas while a phone box was set on fire in West Derby.

A 10-YEAR-OLD boy was being treated for serious burns yesterday after a stray firework shot into the crowd at an organised display. Eleven people, including seven children, were hurt at Wicksteed Park, in Kettering, Northants.

Meanwhile, an eight-year-old boy was hurt in West Sussex after fireworks were accidentally set off inside a house and two people were being treated in hospital yesterday for serious burns following separate firework accidents in Essex.